Ransomware attack hit 200,000 victims in 150 countries

Europol chief warns that number of targets hit by WannaCry hack will grow when many return to work on Monday.

14 May 2017 11:40 GMT

Friday's wave of cyberattacks has hit 200,000 targets in at least 150 countries, the head of the European Union's police agency said, adding he feared that the number would grow when people return to work on Monday.

Wainwright called the fast-spreading hack "unique" because the ransomware was being used in combination with a worm, meaning that the infection of one computer could automatically spread it through an entire network.

"The global reach is unprecedented. The latest count is more than 200,000 victims in at least 150 countries, and those victims, many of those will be businesses, including large corporations," he said.

He said few banks in Europe had been affected, having learned through the "painful experience of being the number-one target of cybercrime" the value of having the latest cybersecurity in place.

"We have been concerned for some time that the healthcare sectors in many countries are particularly vulnerable. They're processing a lot of sensitive data," he said.